What Hurts The Most
by dreamsaremyescape
Summary: "So babe, whose ass am I kicking?" The first words out of Eli's mouth when he sees Clare crying. Eli goes to Clare's house to find out why she wasn't at school, and ends up comforting her from a very unpleasant conversation. Songfic/Oneshot!


**A/N: This (ONESHOT, not gonna be a story) was inspired by my ex-boyfriend, who basically said the same stuff to me that KC says to Clare, a few days ago. So Clare's kind of in my shoes, except I don't have an Eli to comfort me. D: Oh, and the song I used in here I think really kind of described how she was feeling, even though it's about a lost love, it's friendship in here, and even though I'm not a big country fan.**

**Oh, and I don't want to offend any KC fans, I just picked him because him and Clare are now friends (when did that happen?), and I decided that, he should be the one to have this conversation, since I could see him doing this, no offense.**

***Clare is a junior and Eli is a senior, so that's how they've been dating for a year. So, in my world, they got back together after Dead and Gone, and I know that they still wouldn't have been dating for a year in the show, since they only dated for three months, but this is fanFICTION, so pretend for me.***

**Disclaimer: If I owned Degrassi, I wouldn't have even wasted my time on my ex-boyfriend, because I would be after Munro Chambers.;) Which we all know would never happen, but I can dream, can't I? I also do not own What Hurts the Most by Rascal Flatts (the song right down there).**

_I can take the rain on the roof of this empty house_

_That don't bother me_

_I can take a few tears, now and then, and just let 'em out_

_I'm not afraid to cry every once and a while_

_Even though, going on with you gone still upsets me_

_There are days, every now and again, I pretend I'm okay_

_But that's not what gets me_

_What hurts the most was being so close_

_And having so much to say, and watching you walk away_

_And never knowing what could've been_

_And not seeing that loving you_

_Is what I was trying to do_

_It's hard to deal with the pain of losing you everywhere I go_

_But I'm doing it_

_It's hard to force that smile, when I see our old friends and I'm alone_

_Still harder: getting up, getting dressed, living with this regret_

_But I know, if I could do it over, I would trade_

_Give away all the words that I saved in my heart, that I left unspoken_

_What hurts the most was being so close_

_And having so much to say, and watching you walk away_

_And never knowing what could've been_

_And not seeing that loving you_

_Is what I was trying to do_

_What hurts the most was being so close_

_And having so much to say, and watching you walk away_

_And never knowing what could've been_

_And not seeing that loving you_

_Is what I was trying to do_

_That's what I was trying to do_

Clare was sitting on her bed, listening to this song on repeat, letting the beautiful lyrics describe how she was feeling, while crying her eyes out when she heard a knock at the door. She wiped her eyes as best she could but could do nothing about the make-up smeared all over her face, so she just yelled,

"Come in!" in a hoarse voice, expecting her mother or Alli. She hadn't gone to school that day, afraid she'd see _him _in the halls. She let what he said get to her, so she figured it'd be Alli coming to give her a talk about what happened, since she had been the first to talk to him.

The door creaked open, and in walked her boyfriend of a year, Elijah Goldsworthy. He had come to see why she hadn't shown up at school today. He texted and called her at least twenty times, but her phone was off, and he was sent to voice mail. He was afraid he had done something to upset her, but when he entered the room, he knew the problem was much bigger than something he could've said, considering they hadn't even gotten into any fights in the past few weeks.

He was smiling at first, but it quickly fell once he took in her appearance. She had tear stains all over her shirt, her eyes were red and puffy, she could barely hold in her sobs, had make-up running all down her face, and she looked like she hadn't slept in days. Which she really hadn't.

His heart broke, seeing her like this. She looked so vulnerable, so broken. He walked over to her bed and sat on it, and scooped her into his arms, holding her there. She wrapped her arms around his torso and cried into his chest, glad that her boyfriend was there to help ease some of the pain, just by his presence.

"So, babe, whose ass am I kicking?" he asked gently in her ear, making her giggle at his bluntness.

"Eli! Didn't you learn your lesson about fighting with people already?" she reminded, but was flattered that he was so protective of her.

"Someone made you cry, Clare. I don't care who it was, they deserve to get their ass kicked," he said seriously, but softly.

"I'm crying because . . ." she took a breath, trying to calm herself, and also trying to find the words to say why she was so upset.

"Because?" Eli urged her on gently, wanting to know who could've caused her this much pain.

"KC came up to me in the hall yesterday, and he said some stuff to me that made me feel really bad," she admitted, squeezing her eyes shut, trying to force the tears not to fall.

"What did he say?" he asked, trying to stay calm, because right now, Clare needed him. Whatever KC had said to her really hurt her, and she just needed some comforting.

"He said that I was a bitch to Alli, and then I asked him why he went out with me if I'm such a bitch. Then he said that he was still trying to figure that out, and then when I told him he was being immature, he told me I was, too. I said that I wasn't being immature, because I never called him anything, and he said that I was purposely bringing up shit to get my 'drama fix', and that I never cared about him at all. He told me I always made everything about him, and that that was worse than calling me a name. I told him that he was the one starting drama, and that he said he wanted to be friends, but when I tried to talk to him, he ignored me, and then called me a bitch for no reason. He said that he wasn't ignoring me now, and he asked me if I wanted him to and said that he would stop giving me the attention I want. But when I said that I didn't want attention and I just really wanted to be friends, and asked him what even gave him the idea I ever wanted attention, he just walked away," Clare finished, her voice cracking. She said the whole thing in a whisper, afraid her tears would betray her and fall if she picked up her volume.

But when she saw Eli's enraged expression, it pushed her over the edge, reminding her of how pissed off she was at KC. But more than anything, she was hurt. He had always told her how much she meant to him, and how he would never turn on her, but apparently that meant nothing to him. And neither did she. That was what hurt her the most: knowing that she never meant anything to him.

She had talked to her mother about what happened, and she said that he was just hurt, and was acting very immature.

She had really tried to rekindle their once friendship, and it hurt knowing that, if he had just tried to put the past behind, then they really could have been friends again.

Eli brought her out of her thoughts when he spoke in a pained voice, "I hate him for saying all of that untrue stuff about you, and for making you be in so much pain."

"The worst part is, he said he would never do this to me!" she cried, curling up into a ball on her bed, staring up at Eli with eyes full of hurt, anger, confusion, and sadness. Fresh tears welled in her eyes remembering KC's face when they talked, as it held so much hatred and anger in them. And the twisted look when he said how much 'drama' she wanted.

"You want me to go talk to him?" Eli offered, but Clare put her hand on his arm, and looked into his eyes, forcing him to stay put.

"No, Eli. That's the last thing I want, it'll only start something. He's really not worth it. I don't even know why I'm so upset."

"Because you really do still care about him, even though it's not in the same way, and what he said really hurt you. It's okay to feel upset and to cry. Just don't let him break you, Clare. You're strong, and he's just pathetic." Eli said this with sincerity, knowing how much Clare had wanted to be friends with him again.

"Thank you, Eli. I'm so glad I have you in my life. And I don't need KC, especially not after what he said to me," Clare said a bit more strongly than before, and lifting her head up a bit as to emphasize that she really didn't need KC.

"There's the Clare I fell in love with," Eli teased, ruffling her hair a bit.

She giggled and playfully glared at him. "I wonder where the Eli I fell in love with went, cause he's certainly not this sensitive," she joked, poking him in the chest. Before she retreated her hand, though, Eli grabbed it and pulled her into his lap.

"I can too be sensitive!" he defended.

"Oh yeah? When?" she challenged, gently shoving his chest, but not enough to jostle him so they would both fall off the bed.

"Only when it comes to you, babe." His eyes softened when he said this, and he noticed Clare's face brightened up.

"Smooth," she teased, and when his face held an expression of mock hurt, she said, "I didn't say I didn't like it."

Eli leaned in to kiss her, and the two forgot all about KC and his little immature speech to Clare. And for the first time since talking to him, Clare didn't feel worthless; she felt loved.

**A/N: Can someone say cheesy ending? Yeah, I've been known to do those, sometimes. And you should review if you think KC and my ex-boyfriend are assholes! Or you could just review because it would brighten my day.:D This was supposed to be long and fluffy, but then I thought of making it about her and KC, so it turned out not so long and fluffy. But I hope it was still decent! This was hard for me to write, but I feel better now. So, please review giving me your thoughts, whether you though it was good or bad, just don't be too harsh, please.**


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